I make extensive use of the OMS Capacity planning solution. It’s a very convenient way for me to quickly and easily look up performance data for my Hyper-V workloads… yes, especially when they are managed in VMM…I can hear what you are thinking

I mean this is convenient, until data aggregation issues rear their ugly heads, and you see the dreaded message in your solution tile.

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This got me wondering how to preempt this, and identify telltale signs that something is amiss with the solution. I’ll preface this by saying that ideally, it’d be nice to identify something that definitively indicates the moment when this solution is no longer aggregating data, so that we can make OMS or SCOM do what it does best right? Alert us over some sort of channel. Alas, I’m yet to expend any cycles on that. In the meantime, this article will show you how to quickly determine if your solution is working as expected, but it’s predicated on the assumption that you use the solution often enough to even care Brass tacks…

When the solution stops aggregating data, it can be difficult to tell right away unless you know what to look for. The solution collects performance data, and this collection mechanism is probably the fastest way to determine how well the solution is working. For illustrative purposes, let’s take 2 workspaces A and B. Workspace A has a healthy solution, and workspace B has not been aggregating data for a few days.

On the surface they both seem to be fully functional.

Workspace A solution tile

Workspace B solution tile

Tip #1

A simple Type=PerfHourly query to get all Capacity planning performance data can give you some insight into the health of the solution. OMS will return data for the last 7 days by default, so let’s base this data on the last 6 hours or less.

Workspace A returns relevant data for the selected time frame.

Workspace B does not

however when we look for data based on a longer time frame in Workspace b, we get retained data. (Disclosure: Workspace B is on a long term retention data plan)

Tip #2

Another tell-tale sign I’ve seen is with the projection tool. The OMS Capacity Planning solution has a projection tool that enables you to model some what-if scenarios and get projection data for capacity management. The tool should have a slider as seen below, but that slider tends to disappear when there’s an issue with the solution.

Workspace A shows the projection tool with the what-if slider handle below

That’s the size of what I have for tips for this solution at the moment. If you run into this or really any data aggregation-related issues with OMS Capacity Planning, consult this article I wrote earlier that covers most issues I’ve seen with this solution. Very importantly, it also links to the official TechNet article on troubleshooting common OMS issues, from the OMS Product team. I hope you find this instructive.

Author, consultant, strategist and thought leader who is passionate about data-driven management and architecture. Chiyo excels at helping clients think strategically about how to use technology to optimize the service delivery to the business, and to create fundamental business change and value.